Structural Racism and Community Building - The Aspen Institute

It is counterintuitive to consider that individuals, organizations, and initiatives dedicated
to improving outcomes for disadvantaged groups need to be encouraged to make racial
equity an explicit part of their work. After all, their target populations are often people and
communities of color. But analyses of the work of large segments of community building
and allied fields reveal underattention to racial factors. 20 Moreover, the race-related issues
that do surface tend to focus more on interpersonal dynamics, emphasizing strategies and
actions that address diversity, proportionality, and cultural competence. The structural
dimensions of racism are rarely addressed. Some of the hypotheses explaining the relative
absence of focus on structural racism include:
e Race and racism are uncomfortable topics to put on any agenda at any time, and
the social welfare field, despite deep commitment to justice and equity, is no
exception.
e Because antipoverty work often focuses on individuals and communities of color,
race is assumed to be well integrated into strategies and programs; this, in turn,
works to relieve pressure to address race deliberately and explicitly.
e Strategies and solutions in the social services, economic development, and
community building fields tend to be oriented to enhancing individual, family,
and community capacities to do better. A structural racism analysis suggests that
these strategies are necessary but not sufficient, and that system-level change
needs to be accorded higher priority.
e Community building approaches are built on principles of cooperative problem
solving, collaboration, and common enterprise, whereas the structural framework
raises issues that imply challenging power and privilege.
e Many of the key leadership institutions in the social and economic development field
(such as foundations, banks, corporations, research institutes) are themselves
products of historically racialized inequities in this country, and their ability to take
leadership on racial equity issues may not come naturally. 21
A first step is for organizations in the field to ensure that they have their own house in
order. It is important for organizations to model racial equity internally if they are to take
responsibility for achieving such ends in the wider community. Resources exist to guide
organizations aiming to improve their ability to address racial issues and offer strategies
for leadership development, staff training, workforce diversification, developing
knowledge about constituents, and so on. For those who work in the social change field,
there are a number of training and technical assistance programs that are particularly
relevant. 22 There are, however, few guides for those in the community-building field who
20. Rebecca Stone and Benjamin Butler, Core Issues in Comprehensive Community Building Initiatives: Exploring Power
and Race (Chicago: Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 2000).
21. Stone and Butler, Core Issues.
22. Ilana Shapiro, Training for Racial Equity and Inclusion: A Guide to Selected Programs (Washington, D.C.: Aspen
Institute, 2002).
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